Director/Producer/Editor

Abby Ellis is a Peabody Award–winning and Emmy-nominated director whose work examines the moments and institutions that shape our lives. Her film, The Lake, will have its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in the U.S. Documentary Competition. The film is executive produced by Leonardo DiCaprio, Sandbox Films, Little Monster Films, Cranium Productions, among others. Prior to The Lake, Abby produced AMERICA DIVIDED, the Norman Lear– and Shonda Rhimes–executive-produced series exploring inequality across the United States, and later directed FLINT’S DEADLY WATER, a multi-year investigative documentary that exposed a deadly disease outbreak and systemic negligence during the Flint water crisis. In 2020, she served as the Hollyhock Filmmaker-in-Residence at PBS FRONTLINE, where she wrote, directed, and produced SHOTS FIRED, an unflinching examination of police shootings. Her work has earned a Peabody Award, multiple Emmy nominations, and honors including the Edward R. Murrow, Scripps Howard, and Izzy Awards; she was named to DOC NYC’s 40 Under 40 list in 2023, she is a member of the Arab and Middle Eastern Journalists Association and serves frequently as a juror and panelist, and teaches as an adjunct professor at the University of Utah’s film school. At the start of her career Abby spent six years at VICE where she developed, produced and edited some of the network’s most pivotal channels and award-winning shows, from character-driven social and cultural documentaries to the news magazine series VICE on HBO.

Follow her @abbicelly

Producer

Fletcher Keyes is a producer, writer and former reporter dedicated to illuminating the pressing issues of our time through story. His work has tackled critical topics, including the challenges posed by drought and ecological crises, the connection between the high prevalence of police shootings and police training, systemic failures in missing persons cases, and human-induced environmental catastrophe. He's currently producing the feature film, Terminal, executive produced by Sandbox Films and Little Monster Films and he's in development on a non-fiction series.

Follow him @lostmykeyes

Director of Photography

Alex Takats is a documentary director and cinematographer based in New York. His work with Academy Award-nominated Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady of Loki Films as a producer and cinematographer includes One Of Us (Netflix), Love Fraud (Showtime), Dogs (Netflix) and Endangered (HBO). As a DP, he’s worked with directors David France, Amy Berg, RJ Cutler, Lauren Greenfield, and many others. His work has been shown at film festivals around the world such as the Sundance Film Festival, DOC NYC, IDFA and TIFF. Alex has spoken about observational cinematography at DOC NYC PRO and was chosen for the 2022 DOC NYC 40 under 40 list. He was a recipient of the 2022 Catapult Film Fund development grant for his short documentary, We’re All We Got.

Follow him @alytakats

Editor

Emelie Mahdavian is an Emmy, Peabody, and Sundance Award-winning filmmaker whose films have screened at major venues including Telluride Film Festival, Sundance Film Festival, Centre Pompidou, Berlin Film Festival, and Dance on Camera at Lincoln Center, garnering awards recognition, international press, and receiving international theatrical distribution.